This activity includes an assessment, analysis, and action tool that can be used by classrooms to promote understanding of how the complex current issues of energy, pollution, supply, and consumption are not just global but also local issues.
The transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event that has been well documented throughout history. The most recent transit occurred in June of 2004, and the one before that took place more than 100 years earlier in 1882. This site from the South African Astronomical Observatory provides information and first-hand observations of the 1882 event from Wellington, South Africa. Just prior to the event, an observatory was erected at the Huguenot Seminary for girls, and some of the historical observations made from that site in 1882 are provided here for your perusal.
An exercise on the effects of flooding that took place in the upper Mississippi River drainage basin in 1993, using before and after satellite images.
This dataset, created by Robin H. Locke of St. Lawrence University, describes 93 new cars for the 1993 model year with 26 variables, including price, mpg ratings, and engine size. It also illustrates a broad range of statistical techniques such as box-whisker plot, confidence intervals, difference in means, one-way ANOVA, contingency table, scatterplot, regression, and correlation. If further research is required the author has included a list of references.
This case study uses a PowerPoint (~1MB) combined with role-playing to present the epidemiology and pathophysiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Students learn about the etiology and pathophysiology of the disease, and then argue different health professionals' perspectives on a plan of action for dealing with its consequences. Developed for a pathophysiology course for undergraduates, the case could also be used in a microbiology course or in a course in public or international health.
This case study is based on another case in our collection, The 2000-Meter Row: A Case in Homeostasis, which emphasizes the metabolic, respiratory, and cardiac responses of a young athlete competing in a championship rowing event. In this modified version, the same event is viewed in a new light to explore the psychological ramifications of the stressful sports competition. The case was developed for a mixed undergraduate-graduate course in sport psychology.
The physically demanding sport of competitive rowing is the backdrop for this case about homeostasis in which students follow the physiological changes that occur in an athlete competing in a 2000-meter race. The case was developed for use in a second-year anatomy and physiology course. It would also be appropriate in exercise and sports science classes.
Midterm examination for a class at MIT covering game theory and its applications to economics. The one-hour-and-twenty-minute open book examination asks open ended theoretical questions. The exam contains questions and solutions.
Students are employees of a unit of the United Nations responsible for coordinating disaster relief after a major disaster (the 2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami) occurs. The agency needs to understand the situation in each country so that it can coordinate the work of various governments and NGO (nongovernmental organizations) working in the affected area.
This animation highlighting the phases of the Moon was released by the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
This interactive addresses the question if we can reduce CO2 emissions by 20% of 1990 levels and help avoid dangerous climate change? Users of this interactive can manipulate changes to various sources and uses (supply and demand) of energy with the goal of reducing C02 emissions in Great Britain by 80% in the year 2050.
This NOAA visualization on YouTube shows the seasonal variations in sea surface temperatures and ice cover from 1985 to 2007. The visualization is based on data collected by NOAA polar-orbiting satellites. El NiÃo and La NiÃa are easily identified, as are the trends in decreasing polar sea ice.
The University of Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database (UM/BBD) contains "microbial biocatalytic reactions and biodegradation pathways primarily for xenobiotic, chemical compounds." A new microbial enzyme-catalyzed reactions has been posted for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid. 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is used in cultivated agricultural areas, rangeland and pastures, forests, and homes or gardens, and is "a chlorinated phenoxy compound [that] functions as a systemic herbicide and is used to control many types of broadleaf weeds." The degradation pathway map includes organisms which can initiate the pathway. The pathway map provides detailed information on each hyperlinked step, including graphics, product/substrate reactions, and external links to further information.
This applet simulates the electric field of many charge distributions, including point charges, line charges, dipoles, cylinders, conducting planes and more. The color can be adjusted for field magnitude or potential. Equipotential or field lines are optional. The field strength and number of particles are adjustable. The field can be displayed as a velocity field or a force field. The description is also available in German.
The EJS 2D Ising model displays a lattice of spins. You can change the lattice size, temperature, and external magnetic field. You can modify this simulation if you have Ejs installed by right-clicking within the plot and selecting “Open Ejs Model” from the pop-up menu item. The 2D-Ising model was created using the Easy Java Simulations (Ejs) modeling tool. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the ejs_stp_Ising2D.jar file will run the program if Java is installed. Ejs is a part of the Open Source Physics Project and is designed to make it easier to access, modify, and generate computer models. Additional Ejs models are available. They can be found by searching ComPADRE for Open Source Physics, OSP, or Ejs.
The applet simulates various vector fields, including spherical, radial, and constant plane. It is a generalized version of an electrostatic field simulation by the same author. The field strength and number of particles simulated are adjustable. Divergence, curl, and potential can be color-coded. Grid lines, potential lines, or streamlines can be displayed. Directions, specific links to the subject and source code are also included.
The Two Micron All Sky Survey at IPAC website provides an image gallery of the solar system's objects, Jupiter's moons, H II regions, star formation regions, and reflection nebulae, open star clusters, globular star cluster, young stellar objects, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants, various IRAS sources, galaxies, as well as galaxy groups and clusters.
On July 14, NASA announced the public release of a huge collection of images (1.9 million) from the Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), the most thorough census of stars ever made. Using two automated, 51-inch telescopes, one in Arizona and the other in Chile, the three-year-old survey has so far taken images of half a million galaxies and 162 million stars. By its completion, the survey's catalogs will contain more than 300 million objects. A sampling of these images has been placed online at the 2MASS site at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at the California Institute of Technology. The twelve-page gallery contains some amazing images, including the center of the Milky Way, the Sombrero galaxy, the Crab Nebula, and the Dark Nebula, offered as large thumbnails which link to a full-sized image. Users can learn more about 2MASS at the survey's homepages at Caltech and the University of Massachusetts.
Created by David Lane of Rice University, this applet simulates experiments using 2 x 2 contingency tables. You specify the population proportions and the sample size and examine the effects on the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis. The author provides instructions and then five different exercises to practice these concepts. Overall, this is a nice interactive resource that allows users a more hands-on approach to statistics.
This applet simulates the electric field and potential for various charge distributions, including point, line, dipole, spherical and other charges. There is also a simulation, with adjustable speed, of a charge moving close to the speed of light. The field can be displayed as a velocity or force field with particles following field lines, or as field or equipotential lines. The potential and fields can be displayed in 3-D or on a movable 2-D slice. The field strength and number of particles is adjustable, and the charge can be reversed. Source code and directions (also in German) are included.